


Raised of Iron

by TheDumbestAvenger



Series: Born of Iron [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'll put warnings in chapters that applies to, Iron Man 2, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Natasha Romanov Feels, Palladium Poisoning, Panic Attacks, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Happy Hogan, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Tony Stark, So much angst, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24319810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDumbestAvenger/pseuds/TheDumbestAvenger
Summary: The fight with Stane changed everything. Kalen hoped their lives would return to normal, but life just isn't cutting them any slack. When Tony's reckless behaviour begins to worry Kalen, he takes it on himself to figure out what's wrong and put it right.or a retelling of Iron Man 2 if Tony were raising a genius son who just ran headfirst into danger
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Original Character(s)
Series: Born of Iron [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742518
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Domestic Life Was Never Quite my Style

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *TW for panic attacks in this chapter*
> 
> Okay, we're back! If you're new, I recommend reading part one but it's not necessary, if you're returning thank you and I hope you enjoy my take on Iron Man 2!

**October 2009**

_Tony Stark is Iron Man_

_The Duel of Los Angeles: Tony Stark Vs Obidiah Stane_

_People Tell us Their Experience Up Close with Iron Man_

_"We'd have died if it wasn't for him." The Boy Who Rescued Trapped Bus Passengers_

_Video Footage of Young Boy Saving Lives in Iron Man Fight_

Kalen flicked through the news channels, wrapped in his oversized Iron Man hoodie, hoping to find something that wasn't about the events in Los Angeles. Sighing, he turned off the TV and threw the remote across the sofa, slumping backwards and sighing again. Tony glanced over from the kitchen with one eyebrow raised, "I suppose those sighs are meant for me? What's up, Captain?"

"I'm hungry. And the news won't leave us alone. And this jumper is _huge._ And half term's almost over. And everyone at school will recognise me in that footage. And Jason's going to be mad at me. And-"

Tony dropped a pot into the sink and cut Kalen off, "Is that all? Look, I'm cooking right now, the news will move on soon, you'll grow into it, you love school, everyone will be talking about something else in two days anyway. And why would Jason be mad at you?" Tony replied, counting off Kalen's complaints on his fingers.

Kalen sighed again and folded his arms, his oversized sleeves flapping around. "I don't know, because I haven't told him about you and now I'm going to have to explain why I was in Los Angeles at exactly the right time, and on a school night, too." He shuffled backwards until his head dangled off the arm of the sofa and watched Tony, upside down, fumbling his way around the kitchen. "And I'm _hungry_. Seriously, dad, what are you doing?"

"Cooking!" Tony repeated, "What does it look like I'm doing."

"But _why_ are you cooking, can't we order something or have something Auntie Pepper prepared?"

"No," Tony said simply. "I want to cook something for you, my mum's recipe."

Kalen squinted, still dangling upside down, "Well, it looks like you're destroying the kitchen."

"Keep on like that and you'll be cleaning up." Tony dipped his hand in the sink and threw soapy water over the kitchen counter, splattering bubbles across Kalen's face and hair.

"Hey!" Kalengiggled as he wiped the bubbles from his face and waited until Tony turned around before rolling off the sofa and sneaking over.

Tony kept talking, "Really, those kids at school will move on before you even realise it. Besides, there are worse things to be known for." He turned to a pan cooking over the hob, Kalen dashed around the counter unseen. "And even if Jason is angry, he'll get over it. He's your best friend and-"

Kalen plunged his hands into the sink, scooping up handfuls of bubbles, and dumped them on Tony's head. Tony froze, one hand still holding the pan's handle, as bubbles dripped down his face, off his nose, and down his back. Kalen giggled as Tony whirled around, water splattering across the room, and wiped his eyes clear before fixing them on Kalen's. His smile dropped and took a step back, Tony's eyes burned with mischief and he smirked as he started towards the sink. Kalen turned on his heel and scampered away, he could hear Tony's footsteps gaining on him and he flew through the sitting room and out onto the balcony. He ran towards the steps leading to the garden when Tony shouted. "Gotcha!" He emptied out the pot of water over Kalen, drenching him down to his socks and flattening his unruly black curls to his face.

A moment passed, the drip of water hitting the stone floor punctuated their silence. Kalen turned to face Tony, a goofy grin on his face. Tony broke out in laughter as bubbles still dripped from his hair, Kalen joined in, laughing so hard he doubled over and had to sit down. Wiping tears from his eyes Tony sunk to join him, letting the pot clatter to the ground, and threw an arm over Kalen's shoulder, only to pull it away in disgust over just how wet he was with renewed bouts of laughter.

"You should-" Another chuckle escaped Tony, "You should go and change, tea will be ready soon."

"Finally," Kalen got to his feet and skipped upstairs, giggling to himself as he went, while Tony headed back to the kitchen.

Tony sat opposite Kalen, his eyes boring holes into his skull. Kalen dropped his gaze to the plate of spaghetti before him. "It smells… not too awful." Kalen muttered, desperately trying to put off eating Tony's notoriously poor cooking.

"Just take a bite. And be truthful, I can take it." Tony encouraged. Grudgingly, Kalen scooped up the smallest mouthful he could get away with and put it in his mouth, forcing his face to smile as he chewed.

"Mmm…" He hummed. "It's really good, I can really taste the garlic."

Tony's face fell, "You don't like it."

Kalen coughed as he forced himself to swallow and fanned his mouth, "How much garlic did you put in this?"

"Two, just like the recipe said!" Tony defended.

"Two cloves or two garlics?"

"I don't know! Just two! What's the difference?" Tony took a massive forkful of spaghetti hoping to prove his cooking wasn't that bad. Kalen tried to stop him, but it was too late. Tony shoved the food into his mouth and struggled not to spit it out immediately. "Oh my god." He choked. "I'm so sorry I made you eat that. This is awful." He swallowed and promptly tipped the plates into the bin. "I'm calling for a takeaway. Right now."

Happy pulled to a stop down the road from Kalen's school. Kalen dragged his backpack across the seat and slung it over his shoulder. "Thanks, Mister Happy." He said, lacking his usual bubbliness as he reached to open the door.

"Hey," Happy said, stopping Kalen in his tracks, "C'mon, talk to me. What's wrong."

Kalen threw his head back and sighed, "Everyone's going to be talking about me at school. They're going to want to know everything that happened and I'm scared I'm going to say too much or tell them the wrong thing." He lowered his voice, "And I'm scared Jason's not going to want to be friends anymore."

Happy glanced in the rearview mirror, catching eyes with Kalen. "Listen, Jason’s your best friend which means he'll have your back no matter what, and if he doesn't, well then he's not worth being friends with. But he will, I've done research on his family - for safety reasons, obviously - and they're all good people."

Kalen smiled, "You're right, thank you."

Happy nodded, "Now, get going else you'll be late." 

Kalen hopped out onto the street, joining the throng of students heading to school with his head down. Thankfully, everyone seemed too preoccupied catching up with their friends after the half-term break to notice Kalen, that is until someone grabbed his arm and dragged him around the school building away from the crowd. Jason stood before him with his arms folded across his chest.

"When were you going to tell me?" Jason probed.

Kalen dropped his gaze, intent on studying the ground. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what was going to happen in LA-"

"I'm not talking about LA. I'm talking about Tony Stark."

Kalen's eyes widened, and he looked around wildly to make sure no one could overhear them. "I- Wh- How did you know?"

Jason's arms dropped as he broke out in a grin, "So it's true? I was only half sure." Jason jumped on the spot, "This is _so cool!_ I can't believe he's your fa-"

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Kalen insisted, "How'd you figure it out?" He asked again.

"Well, you ran out of school the _day_ Tony Stark was found. That whole secret project thing was you and him building the Iron Man suit, right? Los Angeles was the icing on the cake, even the first day we met you said you used to hang out with Reece. Kinda made it easy for me."

"Do you think anyone else figured it out?" Kalen asked.

"No. No offence but people don't pay you much attention, At least, they didn't until today." He pointed over Kalen's shoulder where a group of older students were staring and whispering to each other.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before."

"Don't worry, I understand. I don't know what I'd do if it were me."

"You're not angry with me?" Kalen spluttered.

"Of course not! I could nev- Oof." Jason laughed as Kalen wrapped him in a hug so tight it knocked the air from his chest. He leant his head against the smaller boy's shoulder and returned the hug before stepping back, "We're going to be late if we don't go now." 

Kalen ducked his head as he walked to homeroom, but still, the corridors fell silent as people saw him. Jason walked tall beside him, giving anyone who stared too long a dirty look. They'd almost reached the classroom when someone shouted his name from behind.

"Conway!" Reece yelled, turning everyone's head. Kalen's heart began to race, given the fight with Stane, Kalen had almost forgotten that Reece attacked him beforehand. Seeing his face brought it all streaming back.

"Just get outta here!" Jason shouted. "You're a bully, leave him alone."

Kalen tugged Jason's sleeve, "Don't. Ignore him." He tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice betrayed him.

"Are you frightened?" Reece mocked, "I thought you were a big shot hero now, but you're still a coward."

Kalen's fists trembled at his sides, he dropped his gaze to the floor and muttered, "I'm not a coward. I'm not a hero either, I just did what anyone would do."

"Have you met Tony Stark?" Called a student from halfway down the corridor. 

"No!" Kalen blurted, "I mean, not other than-"

"What's Iron Man like?" Shouted someone from behind. Kalen twirled on the spot, stammering, unable to form a full sentence as more people started barking questions his way. Jason circled him, trying to keep people from getting too close, but he was fighting a losing battle. Hands tugged on Kalen clothes, tapped his shoulders, spun him around as they demanded answers. 

All Kalen could hear was the blood pounding in his ears, he chest felt as if it would explode. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he struggled to catch his breath. "Jas'n…" he slurred, trying to reach out to his friend but his arms shook and hands felt numb. 

Jason's face appeared in front of his, he spoke, but the words couldn't piece Kalen's ears. Kalen's world spun as he was pulled and jostled, turned until he could no longer stand and he collapsed to his knees. 

A distant yet booming voice. "Enough!"

Again, Jason's face was in front of Kalen's. His eyes wide, worry creased his forehead as his mouth worked soundlessly. Kalen reached out for a second time, Jason caught his arms and ran his hands to rest on Kalen's shoulders, grounding him. Steadying him.

The crowd dispersed, but Jason remained. _Steady_ . Kalen latched onto him, allowing his only focus to become Jason's face. Allowing the familiarity and comfort to wash over him. _Steady_. 

The rushing in Kalen's ears began to dissipate as he gained control over his erratic breathing. Jason's soft voice found its way to Kalen's ears. "Just breathe. You're okay. Just breathe." He repeated those four words over and over. Kalen did. He took deep breaths, calm and safe. 

A smile cracked through the worry on Jason's face as Kalen calmed down. "Okay?" He asked. 

Kalen nodded, "Okay." Jason leaned in, resting his forehead on Kalen's for a moment before locking him in his arms.

Steady. 

When they pulled apart, Mrs Rosario, the headteacher, was crouched next to them. "I think we should take you to the nurse's office." She said in a half-whisper. Kalen nodded and got to his feet, grabbing Jason's sleeve and pulling him along.

The nurse sat them down in his office, asking a seemingly unending list of questions before he left to phone Kalen's dad. Usually, he'd be worried he might recognise Tony's voice, but Kalen couldn't find the energy to care. "Thank you." He mumbled to Jason.

"Don't worry about it." Jason smiled, "You look tired, you can lean on me if you want."

Kalen shuffled over in his chair and rested his head on Jason's arm. "How'd you know what to do?"

"I've seen the same thing happen to mum, I just did what dad does to help her. I hoped it would help you too."

Kalen gave a weak smile, "It did."

The nurse returned to the office, shutting the door behind him and giving Kalen a kind smile. "I just got off the phone with your dad, he said your uncle will pick you up and he'll meet you back home as soon as he can. You can both wait here until he arrives."

"I have to go home?" Kalen asked.

"Yes, not only is it in the rules but you can barely hold your head up." He gestured to the way he leaned on Jason.

"But I have maths class today…"

Happy arrived not ten minutes later. He dropped Kalen home, where Tony was already waiting, and left to give them some privacy. "The nurse told me you had a panic attack," Tony said, patting the sofa for Kalen to sit next to him. "Can you tell me what happened? What started it?"

Kalen was reluctant to talk, he didn't want to worry Tony, but knew he couldn't avoid the conversation. "Reece started it…"

Tony clenched his fists and muttered, "I'm gonna kill Justin. What did he do?"

"Nothing really, he just wouldn't leave me alone. But when I saw him, I remembered how he attacked me… Then everyone started shouting and asking questions and I didn't know what to do and-"

"Hey, hey. Shhh, It's okay." Tony soothed as Kalen's breath hitched. "I'll phone the school, and we'll figure out how to stop that happening again, is that okay?" 

Kalen nodded and leaned back heavily. "Can I go to bed?"

"Yeah. Of course, you can." Tony said, tousling Kalen's hair before watching him trudge upstairs.

When Happy dropped Kalen at school the next day, it was impossible not to notice how twice the amount of teachers were hanging around in the corridors, Kalen could feel their eyes follow him as he walked to homeroom. He ducked inside, expecting it to be empty, but was surprised to see Jason sitting in his usual seat. "You're here early," Kalen said as he skipped over.

Jason grinned, "I had mum drop me off so I could give you this." He rummaged around in his backpack as Kalen dragged over his chair. Jason pulled out a neatly wrapped box, "Happy birthday! Sorry it's a little late."

"Thank you!" Kalen beamed as he took the box and ripped off the paper to reveal a lego set of the Knight Bus from Harry Potter. "This is awesome! You're awesome!" Kalen leant forward and hugged Jason, pulling away suddenly.

"What is it?" Jason asked, looking a little hurt.

"We could build it together, if you wanted. At my house?" 

There was a horrible moment where Kalen thought Jason might just get up and run away, but then his face turned upwards in the biggest smile Kalen had ever seen. "You mean I can meet Tony Stark? _The_ Iron Man?"

"Yeah," Kalen laughed. "Actually, I've never had anyone come over before 'cause… well, you know why."

"This is the second-best day ever!" Jason shouted, leaping to his feet in excitement.

"Second?"

"Yeah. First was meeting you, of course."

Before Kalen could reply, Mr Harrel walked into the classroom. Kalen dropped his head in an attempt to hide the massive grin on his face. "What's all the fuss?" Mr Harrel asked, "I heard shouting from outside."

"Nothing, Sir." Jason grinned.

"Sure thing." Mr Harrel set down a stack of papers on his desk and relaxed into his chair. "You boys want to hear a cool fact?" He asked, already knowing what the answer would be; both boys lapped up learning every little fact that they could, and Mr Harell had thousands to hand out.

"Yes!" They chirped simultaneously.

"Okay then," Mr Harrel leaned forward on his desk. "What's the tallest mountest ever found?"

"Mount Everest." Jason declared, clearly confident in his answer. 

"No," Kalen cut in, "It's Chimborazo in Ecuador. Mount Everest is the highest from sea level, but as the Earth isn't perfectly spherical, Chimborazo is the furthest point from the Earth's centre." 

"Both excellent guesses," Mr Harell leaned back again, "But you're thinking too close to home. It's actually a mountain called Rheasilvia which is at the centre of a crater on an asteroid called Vesta. To put it into perspective, Mount Everest is five and a half miles tall where Rheasilvia is almost three times as tall at fourteen miles."

"Woah…" Kalen gasped.

"That's pretty cool, right?" Both boys nodded as the bell rang out, signalling the beginning of homeroom. "Once more unto the breach," Mr Harrel muttered as students began to file in. "Just a little Shakespeare, Henry V."

Once everyone was seated, Mr Harrel started with the morning announcements - nothing remarkable, as usual - before logging onto his computer to find something interesting for the students to do on the interactive whiteboard. While he was searching, a notification popped up. **BREAKING NEWS: Iron Man destroys weapons illegally shipped by his company.**

Mr Harrel opened up the report as mutterings spread through the class. Unfortunately, the story was barely more than a headline at this point. Kalen shuffled closer to Jason and whispered in a barely audible tone. "Tellor Propellor Rifles, they were shipped after dad put a stop to weapons manufacturing. He tracked them down late last night and went to destroy them. It's kinda just what he's up to at the moment."

Jason grinned, "Having a friend on the inside is so cool."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did google cool space facts to find out about the mountain.  
> Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter out Friday.


	2. Blow Us All Away

They thought building Lego without reading the instructions would be fun, but sitting in front of three-hundred-and-fifty-three unassembled pieces - and fifty assembled ones - the boys began to regret the decision. They'd spent a total of three afternoons building, and then deconstructing, five different incarnations of the Knight Bus. Looking at the box art, Kalen realised it would soon become six.

Jason picked up on it, too, not that it was hard to notice that their current design only had spaces for two wheels. He gestured to the three Minifigures lined up on the coffee table, "At least we got these right."

"Yeah," Kalen laughed. "I don't know I can build an Iron Man suit, but not a Lego Knight Bus." He picked up the Stan Shunpike Minifigure and put on his best cockney accent, not that he was do anything close to one. "What you doin' down there?"

Jason giggled and picked up the Harry Potter figure, acting out the scene with Kalen. Tony jumped up the stairs two at a time, "Everything okay, boys?"

"Yeah!" Kalen replied. He lifted up their creation, "We went wrong, though."

"You've got to start again, again?" Tony asked, jogging over to examine their work. "Ah, yeah. I see the issue here."

"Yeah," Jason sighed. "Do you want to help, Mr Stark?"

"Jason, you've spent the last three afternoons sitting on my living room floor. You can call me Tony. And I'd love to help, but I think this is what they call a teachable moment, something about patience or perseverance." Tony shrugged, something else weighed on his mind. His phone chirped and he pulled from his back pocket, frowning at the screen. "Fury's haranguing me." He groaned. "Keep at it, kids. You'll get there soon." Tony spun on his heel and left the room.

Kalen ran after him, "What does Director Fury want? Is it another mission?"

"Not exactly." Tony sighed. "He wants my answer on this whole 'Avengers' shtick. I asked for time to think about it. He thinks that time is up."

"I don't know why you didn't say 'yes' straight away. I would've." Kalen shrugged. 

"Because you'd do anything to be a superhero. Besides, it'll probably be insanely dangerous, who knows what secrets Fury's hiding. I've got to think about you."

Kalen dropped his head, "Yeah, I know. But what if something bad happened, and you're the only one who could stop it?"

Tony ruffled Kalen's hair, "You make a good point, Captain." His phone chirped again, and he glanced down at the screen. "I've got to sort this. I'll be in the office if you kids need anything."

"Wait!" Kalen shouted, stopping Tony in his tracks. "Can I show Jason the Mark IV?"

Tony closed his eyes and shook his head with a gentle smile, "Sure thing, Captain."

"Yes!" Kalen jumped and fist-pumped the air before running back to the living room, startling Jason as he spoke. "Wanna see something cool?"

Jason's eyes widened, and his jaw practically hit the floor. "You mean the Iron Man suit, right?" He stammered. Kalen nodded, an enormous grin lighting up his face. Jason, still shocked, stumbled to his feet, "Now?"

"Of course, now." Kalen giggled, "Come on!" He reached forward and grabbed Jason's arm, pulling him down to the workshop.

"Woah," Jason gasped as Kalen unlocked the door, taking in everything from the high-tech machinery to the vintage car collection along the far wall. He dropped his voice to a whisper, "Is Jarvis in here, too?" Jason received the shock of his life when Jarvis first greeted him to the mansion, and he'd never quite recovered from it.

"My main control panel is in Mr Stark's workshop, so you could say I'm here more than anywhere else." The AI said.

Kalen chuckled at Jason's shocked face, "He's only joking." He dragged Jason over to Dum-E, who was aimlessly spinning in a circle. "This is Dum-E, he's the first robot dad ever made." They watched him turn a few rotations, "Though maybe he needs tuning-up." Dum-E issued a series of high pitched beeps as he sped up, his claw flailing through the air. 

Kalen dived forward, ducking under the claw, and flicked off Dum-E's motor. Dum-E let out a low whine - as if sighing in relief - when he finally stopped spinning. "I'll fix you up when Jason's gone home," Kalen said with a reassuring pat.

"I didn't think I'd ever see that." Jason laughed. "What's this?" He asked, pointing to the square panel at the end of Tony's desk.

"Oh, that's the old holo-projector. It's kinda useless now."

"Holograms!" Jason gasped, "How can holograms ever be useless?"

Kalen beamed, "Jay, show us newspapers of the battle in Los Angeles." Jason watched on, stunned, as holographic papers detailing the fight appeared in the air front of them. His eyes lingering on a close up picture of Stane and Tony locked together, framed against a fiery explosion behind them.

"We fitted the entire place with hologram projectors." He grabbed the paper nearest to him and scrunched it into a ball. Jarvis projected a basketball hoop across the lab which Kalen threw the ball into with ease. Jarvis played a victory tune as it sailed through.

Jason grinned and reached out to grab another paper and scrunch it up. As he threw it across the room, the hoop glitched and shunted to the side. The ball missed its target by an inch. "I guess maybe Jarvis needs a tune-up, too," Jason said.

Kalen shook his head. "I think Jarvis just has it out for you."

"Not at all, sir," Jarvis said, sarcasm evident in his voice. "It was merely a software glitch."

Jason shuddered, "I'm not sure I like your AI having it out for me. I've seen the movies, and the AI always turns evil, I don't want to be here when he does."

"Jarvis isn't going to turn evil! He's just messing around." Kalen said, playfully pushing Jason's shoulder. "Are you ready to see the suits?" 

Jason nodded wordlessly. Kalen turned back to the holographic papers and swiped them away, revealing Tony's 'Hall of Armours' on the opposite wall. Three glass cases along the back wall of the workshop, each one containing an incarnation of the Iron Man suit.

Jason was so awestruck that he couldn't move on his own. Kalen put his hands on his shoulders and steered him closer to the suits. "The big one on the left, the Mark I, is the suit dad built in Afghanistan. The middle one we made together, - you saw that one over the pier actually - but we found out it couldn't fly too high up so upgraded to the Mark III."

"The one he fought Iron Monger with." Jason breathed. The name 'Iron Monger' felt strange to Kalen, his shoulders and jaw tensed up when he heard it. To him, it was just Obidiah, the man he used to trust. Jason saw the difference in Kalen's posture. "You knew him, right? Iron Monger?" He asked tentatively.

Kalen jerked his head up, "Yeah. Yeah, I did. One of dad's best friends for years, we all trusted him. Then he turned around and tried to kill dad to make money." The betrayal still stung Kalen. He couldn't imagine how Tony must feel about it. "The armour," Kalen pointed to the Mark III meaning to change the subject, "It's still damaged from the battle and doesn't work too well anymore. We're planning on fixing it up after upgrading the Mark IV."

He moved to a worktable where the Mark IV lay in segments on top. "It's ready to go in case dad gets a call about weapons or something, but we're playing around with a few new ideas. A better delivery system, for one. It's great watching him suit up with all the bots, but it's not very mobile."

"Cool..." Jason breathed. He picked up the helmet and held it in front of his face. "So cool..."

Kalen scooped up one of the gloves and put it on, holding his palm out to Jason and speaking in a mock Iron Man voice. "Put it down or be disintegrated."

Jason yelped and jumped back, for a second believing the threat was real until Kalen dissolved into laughter. Jason laughed along with him as a voice echoed from the stairs.

"Hey," Tony called as he jogged over to join them. "Jason, your mum's here to pick you up."

"It's already five?" Jason asked, dismayed by how quick the time had passed.

"Ten past, actually, but who's counting. Anyone would think I have two kids." 

"Dad! Be nice to Jason."

"I'm just saying." Tony held up his hands in surrender. "You know I don't mind having Jason over, but it _is_ time to leave. Come on, your mum's waiting." They followed Tony upstairs where Camila perched on the edge of the sofa. Despite being the third visit in as many days, she was still a little nervous around Tony, though nowhere near as bad as the first time they met.

"Bye!" Kalen waved them down the drive and skipped back inside. Tony sat on the sofa, head in his hands. "Are you okay?" Kalen asked, plopping down next to him.

Tony nodded but didn't speak. Kalen frowned and wormed his way onto his lap, laying his head on Tony's legs and pulling faces up at him. Tony snickered and fell back against the sofa, one hand playing with Kalen's hair. "I don't know what to tell Fury," he exhaled. "I can't abandon people who need help, but I can't put myself in harm's way either. It's not fair on you."

Kalen was silent for a moment, fiddling with his thumbs. Eventually, he spoke up, "I'm proud of you, and of Iron Man. I think you should join, I'll be okay. Mister Happy could look after me while you're away, we'll watch you fight bad guys on the news and cheer you on!"

Nothing Kalen said was a lie, but it certainly wasn't the whole truth. He knew that sharing his plan with Tony would be a sure-fire way to have it shut down forever.

"That's coercion," Tony muttered, making Kalen giggle. "I'm proud of you too, you know, running into the fight with Obidiah was brave. Incredibly dangerous and something you must never do again, but brave." Tony stared at the wall, lost in thought. "I guess that's the decision made. I'll go call Fury." He picked up Kalen as he stood, dangling him over his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down!" Kalen cried between howls of laughter. Tony spun on the spot, laughing along with Kalen, before setting him down.

"Listen up," Tony said. "I'm going to make this call, Pepper's getting here at six with cheeseburgers, want to mess around with the suit in between?" Kalen nodded fervently. "I'll meet you down there."

Tony went down the corridor to his office while Kalen bounced downstairs. He stared at the Mark IV laid out on the worktop. Reaching forward, he picked up the helmet and slipped it over his head. Jarvis didn't activate as the mask wasn't connected to a power source, but that didn't stop Kalen from looking out of the narrow eye slits. He imagined himself flying alongside Tony, fighting to save the world together-

Footsteps.

He tugged the helmet off and placed it back down, turning towards the stairs with wide eyes. No one came. He must have imagined it. Letting out a long breath, he moved to sit behind Tony's desk, eyes lingering on the suit.

"Dum-E!" He exclaimed, remembering his promise to the robot. He scooted himself over in the chair, grabbing a toolbox along the way. "What's wrong, huh?" He hummed, listening to Dum-E's bleeped reply while he examined his motor.

That's where Tony found him, cross-legged next to Dum-E and holding a screwdriver between his teeth as he fitted the motor back into place. "You _Geordi La Forge_ now? What are you up to down there?" Kalen mumbled his reply through the screwdriver, totally incomprehensible. "You're gonna have to get rid of that, Kay."

Kalen removed the screwdriver and stood, "I said, I'm fixing Dum-E. He was spinning again." He tilted his head, "Isn't _Geordi La Forge_ the guy from that really old show you watch?"

"It's not that old," Tony scoffed. He watched Dum-E wheel about happily, "You fixed him by yourself?"

"Yup!"

"Wow," Tony placed his hand on top of Kalen's head, "I've got to look out for that brain of yours, tryna steal my job."

"I'd never!" Kalen giggled as Tony wobbled his head. "Can we work on the suit now?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Tony sat Kalen down in the chair and wheeled him to their desk, scrolling through files until he reached one named _Kalen and Tony's Super Fantastic Iron Man Plans._ Kalen read it aloud and giggled.

"Yeah," Tony sighed, "That's the last time I'm letting you name anything." He froze, staring through the monitor with glazed eyes as if seeing something entirely different. "Anyway," he said, "Ideas for the suit?"

"What about a briefcase? You can carry it to meetings and on business trips in case there's an emergency." Kalen flashed a smile, pretending not to notice Tony's strange behaviour. In reality, he had seen all the times Tony stared into the distance, watched Kalen with misty eyes, or seemed lost in thought. Something was wrong, and he didn't want Kalen to know.

"Briefcase." Tony hummed. "I like that. It would mean redesigning the suit to be lighter, I'm not lugging that thing around everywhere." Tony said, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. 

"We could call it the Suit-Suitcase!"

Tony shook his head. "Remember what I just said about you and naming things? 'Cause I'm not flying in something called the Suit-Suitcase."

"I think it has a nice ring to it. Maybe it's even a better name than Iron Man." Kalen put on his fake Iron Man voice again, "I am... Suit-Suitcase Man." 

Tony copied the voice, "The best travel agent known to man." Kalen started laughing before he'd even finished the sentence, his infectious giggles causing Tony to chuckle.

"Oh! You know what, I wanted to run something past you," Tony said. "What would you think about me restarting the Stark Expo? Grandpa Howard started it to bring together minds from all over the world to-"

"To work together and create the future!" Kalen cut in. "It's one of my favourite stories from Auntie Peggy. I've always wanted to go!"

"I guess you're on board then," Tony remarked. "Now, tell me more about this briefcase idea."

Kalen lay in bed that night, reading the book he borrowed from his science teacher Miss Chen when there was a knock at the door. Tony walked in. "Light's out time, Captain," he instructed, hand hovering over the light switch. "And don't forget I have a meeting in the morning so Happy'll be here when you wake up."

"What happened to Doctor Banner?" Kalen asked, sitting up straight.

"What?"

"Doctor Banner." Kalen held up his book. "This book about him says he was working on a super-soldier serum, like Captain America, but he stopped. It doesn't say why."

"I think I remember reading about that, actually." Tony furrowed his brow as he thought back. "There was some sort of accident with an experiment, and Banner stopped his work. I'm not sure exactly what happened."

"Huh. I guess that means there's never going to be another Captain America."

"Never say never. That's what people always say, right? Maybe you'll recreate the serum one day."

Kalen beamed, "You really think I could?"

"I think you can do anything you put your mind to, one day we'll all be blown away by what you do. I also happen to think it's lights out time." Tony said, tapping the switch. Kalen tucked his book safely onto the shelf and snuggled under the duvet.

"Night, dad!"

"Night, kiddo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!  
> I'm gonna start twice weekly updates and see if I can keep up with the quicker pace, next update will be monday!


	3. What is a Legacy

**May 2010**

"Are you boys hungry? 'Cause I sure am." Tony said as he looked around the unfamiliar streets for a place to eat. He wore big, opaque sunglasses and baseball cap. Or as Jason put it, 'The Superhero Disguise'. Surprisingly, it was working. That, or the fact no one was exactly looking for Tony Stark and two kids wandering the streets of Manhattan.

Happy followed at a distance. Though he had, at Tony's request, swapped his usual black suit for jeans and a t-shirt, Happy still scanned every person that passed for potential risks.

"Hey, what about that place?" Jason suggested, pointing across the street.

"Shawarma? What's that?" Kalen asked.

"Meat and stuff served in a wrap or pita usually. There's a place near my house, its delicious."

Tony clapped his hands together, "Shawarma it is."

Happy jogged to catch up and tapped Tony's shoulder, "Maybe I should go in first, do a threat assessment."

Tony clapped him on the shoulder, "Happy, the biggest threat right now is these two when they're hungry. You can clock off."

"Yeah, Mister Happy!" Kalen chirped. "We're only here for one more day. I want you to spend it with us." He gave Happy his best puppy dog eyes. 

Happy shook his head, "That's not fair, you know I can't say no when you do that." When Kalen didn't stop, Happy threw his arms in the air. "Okay! I'm clocked off. If anything dangerous comes this way, you're on your own."

Kalen grinned, "That's okay. I learned how to box from you!" 

"And one of us is a literal superhero," Tony muttered as he pushed open the door, "What does everyone want?"

They ordered food to go and ate as they walked, chatting and laughing happily. Tomorrow night marked the opening of the Stark Expo; Pepper was in Queens finalising the preparations. Kalen had fought hard for Jason to join their weekend trip, and he was glad for it. He could barely remember the last time he was this happy.

A couple of blocks from the Shawarma restaurant, they rounded onto Park Avenue. Tony stopped walking and looked up at the building towering over them.

"Isn't that Grand Central?" Jason whispered to Kalen. 

"I think so," Kalen took another bite, watching Tony stare up at the building. "I'm not sure why we’re here, though." They shuffled closer to Tony, trying to overhear his conversation with Happy. 

"Is this the one you were thinking about?" Happy asked. 

"Yeah. Central Manhattan, it's a nice location." Tony clapped his hands together, "Enough business talk. We should get a taxi back to the hotel, don't want you missing that show. What's it called, again? Aristocratic Love Triangles?"

"Downton Abbey," Happy snapped. "And it's more than love triangles. There's drama too."

"I think it's a good show." Kalen shrugged, "I text Happy in the advert breaks." 

"Yeah, my parents love it," Jason added. 

Tony held his hands up in surrender. "Note to self: don't knock Downton Abbey." He sighed, "I'll get us a cab."

"I'll do it," Happy started towards the road.

"Ah, ah!" Tony cut in, "Holiday Happy, remember? I can handle it."

Back at the hotel suite, after impatiently sitting through Downton Abbey, Tony caught a moment alone with Kalen - Happy was enjoying a luxurious bath while Jason phoned his parents from his room. Tony tapped the sofa next to him for Kalen to sit down. "I want to ask you something."

Kalen flopped onto the sofa, waiting for Tony to continue. He took a long breath before speaking. "One day, people will have to find out you're my son, preferably before you take over the company. So, how do you feel about working towards that?"

Kalen's eyes widened as memories flashed through his head: Tony continually battling with the press, his first day back at school after the fight with Stane. 

Tony registered the fear in his face and jumped to explain himself. "I don't mean right now. I'm not about to bring you on stage at the expo. Just..." Tony stared over Kalen’s shoulder. "Just sometime soon. I want to spend more time with you, out of the house, I mean, like this holiday."

"I want to spend more time with you, too." Kalen started, "But the press follows you everywhere you go. I'm not sure I want that."

"We can manage that, Happy and me," Tony said. He studied Kalen's face, still seeing signs of hesitance. "How about we start small, the Grand Prix de Monaco is in two weeks. Everyone there will be rich, so they'll be too self-obsessed to question why you might be there.

Kalen let out a breath as a grin formed on his face. "Aren't you one of those people?"

Tony dropped his jaw, pretending to be hurt by Kalen's words, "I take great offence to that. I should ground you." A mischievous smirk settled on his lips, "Or I could do this." He lunged towards Kalen and attacked him with tickles. Kalen howled with laughter as he tried to escape Tony's reach, squirming onto the floor and backing away.

Tony giggled and leaned forward, "just think about Monaco, okay? There's no pressure if you want to say no."

Kalen nodded, already deep in thought. "Why are you asking now?"

"We should do it before it's too late." Tony's eyes didn't quite meet Kalen's. "Before you're older and hanging out with dad isn't cool anymore."

"Hanging out with you never won't be cool." Kalen climbed into Tony's lap and buried his face into his chest. He wasn't dumb, he knew Tony was hiding something, and he wished more than anything to help lift his burden. But he just didn't know how. 

* * *

"I can't believe my parents let me come here!" Jason yelled, his voice barely audible over the chanting crowd behind them. They stood in the front row of the Stark Expo Opening Ceremony, dressed to the nines in Iron Man merchandise and sporting glow stick necklaces.

Red and gold fireworks exploded overhead, Kalen tilted his head back to watch them. "Look!" He nudged Jason and pointed skyward where the distance shape of Iron Man slowly grew closer. Tony dropped expertly through a hole in the roof and landed on one knee as the crowd's cheers doubled in volume. He held out his arms to greet the people as the stage below him began to spin, and metallic limbs raised to remove the suit.

Tony waited until the dancers behind him finished up their routine before addressing the crowd, "Oh" it's good to be back! Did you miss me? I missed you too."

"Blow something up!" Someone yelled.

"Blow something up? I already did that." Tony waited for the noise to quiet a little. "I'm not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me. I'm not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history. I'm not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair sipping on an iced tea because I haven't come across anyone who's man enough to go toe to toe with me on my best day!" The audience roared as he launched into his speech. America was experiencing what the news channels called 'Iron Man Fever', nobody could get enough of Tony or his heroic alter ego. 

"Please," Tony held up his hands to quiet the crowd. "It's not about me. It's not about you. It's not even about us. It's about legacy." He caught Kalen's eye, "It's about what we chose to leave behind for future generations. That's why, for the next year, the best and brightest men and women from the world over will pool together to leave behind a brighter future. So what I'm saying, if anything, is welcome back to the Stark Expo! Making a special appearance from the great beyond, my father, Howard."

The giant screen at the back of the stage lit up, beginning to play an old video of Howard an early Stark Expo. Kalen and Jason took it as their cue to sneak backstage where Happy was waiting for them. "Enjoy the show?" He asked, both boys squealing in response. Happy glanced at the lanyards around their necks. "Still got your badges, too, that's good. Tony's just up those stairs."

"Thank you, Mister Happy!" Kalen beamed. He bounded up the stairs, Jason not far behind, and reached the top to find Tony staring at a small, metallic box, his brow creased with worry. "What's that?" Kalen asked, closing the gap between them.

Tony plastered on a smile. "Nothing, Captain." He checked the time, "We need to get going soon, can't have you late for school tomorrow." Jason yawned loudly, causing Tony to chuckle. "You can sleep on the plane, sounds like you need it."

"Awww," Jason whined. "I don't want to leave."

"Me either," Kalen added, "There's so much we haven't seen yet."

"Maybe we can come out again in a few weeks, bring your parents along, too," Tony suggested. The boys immediately lit up at the idea. "As I said, gotta go. Apparently, even private planes don't like it when you make them wait."

Happy jogged up the stairs to join them. "It's a zoo out front," he explained, "We should take the back exit. I'll have the car brought around."

"Goodbye Holiday Happy," Tony muttered. "Lead the way."

Happy led them to the back exit, phoning someone about the car as he walked. After weaving through a maze of backstage corridors, Happy pushed open a fire exit. He froze in the doorway. "Tony," he muttered, turning back. "A woman is sitting on the bonnet."

Tony frowned, "I thought we were avoiding people."

"Yeah? Well, so did I. Doesn't mean she's not there. Just go talk to her."

"That's an offer I can't turn down," Tony said, squeezing past Happy. "And you are?" He called.

Kalen rolled his eyes at Tony's remark. He leant over and whispered to Jason, "I think he's secretly in love with Auntie Pepper. But he pretends he's not."

Jason smirked, about to speak but Happy got there first. "Everyone apart from Tony knows he's in love with Pepper." He glanced out of the door. "Alright, she's gone." 

Kalen bounded over to Tony, eyeing the folded paper he held. "What's that?"

"Subpoena," Tony answered. "Washington, tomorrow morning. It looks like you kids are flying home with Pepper."

* * *

They slogged to class the next morning, both boys too excited to have slept on the plane. Jason collapsed into his seat and laid his head on the table, much to the annoyance of Mrs Parsons. "If my class is too dull for you, maybe a trip to the Principal's office would entertain you," She dropped a textbook onto his desk. Jason bolted upright and shook his head.

"N-No, Mrs Parsons. Just tired." He stammered, stifling a yawn.

Mrs Parsons lifted her chin and glanced at Kalen, who's head drooped into his hands. "Mm," She hummed, "You and Mr Conway both, it seems." She tapped the textbook, "Page 352 if you care to join us."

Jason stared daggers into her back as she walked to the front of the class. "Forty-two more pages and she's Severus Snape," he whispered. Kalen clapped his hand over his mouth to hide his giggling. Mrs Parsons shot a glance in their direction and they jumped into the work.

One full day of stumbling through classes later, Kalen and Jason walked to the bus, glad to finally be headed home. There was a shout from behind, Kalen turned just in time to see Reece reach out and shove him into the locker.

Kalen yelped out in pain. Jason's face contorted, he grabbed Reece's shoulder and spun him around, yelling, "What is wrong with you!"

Reece smirked. "Don't cause a scene, Conway will freak out again."

"You're evil! And a bully!" Students began to gather around, watching the fight. "I don't understand why you pick on us, on Kalen."

"Because he's a lying geek and deserves it." Reece sneered.

"So you're jealous that he's smarter than you?"

Reece's face turned beet red. Snarling, he balled his hands into fists and lunged forward, intending to throw a punch at Jason when-

"Reece!" Mr Harrel shouted across the hallway. "Principal's office. Now." 

For a horrible moment, Kalen thought Reece was still going to attack, but he backed off; slinking down the corridor with every pair of eyes following him.

"Show's over," Mr Harrel addressed the gathered students, they dispersed quickly. Mr Harrel jogged to check on Jason. "Did he hit you?" Jason shook his head, stunned. "That was very brave of you, albeit ill-advised." He turned to Kalen, "A friend like that is rare. My advice, hold on to him tight and don't let go. Now, run along else you will miss the bus."

"Yes, Mr Harrel," Kalen beamed. That was something he planned to do anyway, he couldn't imagine not being friends with Jason.

  
As he trudged up the driveway, Kalen debated taking a nap right on the tarmac. He stumbled through the door and dropped his bag in the corner before tugging off his shoes. "Hey, Jarvis," he mumbled. "Is dad home?"

"Not currently, Sir. He's attending a meeting in Los Angeles."

Happy's voice sounded from the living room, "He'll be back anytime now. The meeting ran a few minutes over."

Kalen joined Happy on the sofa, catching the tail end of a news report on Tony's Senate hearing. "What happened?" Kalen asked, pointing at the screen.

"Well… In summary, Tony argued against the suit being classed a weapon and turned over to the Government, Hammer made an overly dramatic speech chocked full of BS, they made Rhodey testify against Tony. Then he hacked the screens and showed everyone Hammer's failed attempt at recreating the suit."

"Huh, guess that's why Reece was so angry."

"What do you mean?" Happy asked, his brow creased in worry.

"He shoved me into a locker and nearly attacked Jason. Mr Harrel stepped in before he could, though." 

"Sounds like you're lucky he was there."

Kalen nodded. After a few seconds, he spoke. "Mister Happy?"

"Yeah?"

"What's BS?"

Happy hesitated, "Ask your dad."

"Okay," Kalen nodded as a yawn escaped him.

Happy slung his arm over Kalen's shoulders, pulling him closer. "Want to watch a film while we wait?

"Yeah, okay. What do you want to watch?"

"I'm glad you asked," Happy leaned over the arm of the sofa, "'cause I just bought this on the way over. I've been dying to watch it." He held up a DVD copy of Up. "Should I put it on?"

Kalen nodded excitedly. Happy chuckled as he made his way to the DVD player, even when exhausted, Kalen loved films. 

The click of the front door woke Kalen. A bittersweet smile lit his face as he realised, for the first time in over a year, he'd had a happy dream about his mum. Nothing special, just the two of them at home with Tony, but it wasn't a nightmare.

The film had been turned down low, but not off. Happy was talking to Tony by the door in a whisper. Kalen stretched his arms and rose from the sofa, Tony striding over to join him. "Hey Captain heard you had a bit of a rough day."

"It's nothing. Just tired," Kalen shrugged, choosing not to mention the incident with Reece even though Happy undoubtedly had. "How was the meeting?"

"Boring, but that's nothing new. Are you old enough to be CEO yet? 'Cause I'm tired of constant meetings and thinking about stock prices, be great if you could just step in for me."

"I can't be CEO, I've got school! I'd have to have all my meetings in the afternoon, but then I'd never get to see you."

Tony chuckled. Trust Kalen to seriously consider the offer, at least he'd be leaving the company in good hands, even if it took a few years to get there. "Alright, Captain, when you've finished school."

"Definitely," Kalen nodded. "But I do have an idea if you really mean it…"

"Oh, yeah? Who?"

The door clicked open and a voice called out. "It's me!"

"It's a sign," Kalen whispered, nudging Tony forward.

"What's a sign?" Pepper asked as she walked in.

"You," Tony said. "You're the sign, and now that I think about it, nothing else could make more sense." 

Pepper looked him over quizzically. "I can't say I'm following."

"You should be doing this, not me. You're basically running the company anyway."

"Yeah, I'm trying to-"

"So I want to make you CEO."

Pepper was stunned into silence. Her mouth hanging open as she tried to find any sign that Tony was joking. Kalen couldn't help but giggle, he ran forward and pulled her into a hug, "Congratulations!"

"You're serious?" Pepper choked out.

"Of course. I mean, I'll have to check there's not a legal issue first but, I want you…" He looked into Pepper's eyes for slightly too long, stepping slightly too close before quickly adding, "to be CEO. I want you to be CEO."

"I'll get the champagne," Happy said, "Give you two a moment to… talk it through."

"Um, yeah. I'll go with Mister Happy." Kalen skipped after Happy as he left the room. "Yuck," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder.

"I thought you were all for them getting together," Happy said.

"I am. I want them both to be happy and having Pepper as my-" Kalen flinched away from his own words. His voice quiet when he spoke again. "Almost like a second mum… That would be nice. But it's yucky to watch."

Happy messed Kalen's hair, a genuine smile on his face - very much a rarity, especially given his nickname. "Yeah, very yucky."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finished writing the Avengers Assemble portion of this fic and my word even I wasn't prepared, and I knew what was coming. I can't wait to share it with you!  
> As always, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!


	4. Have I Done Enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I use the word doughnut three times in one sentence...  
> *Brief mention of a panic attack in this chapter*

Kalen ran up the driveway, his bag bouncing around on his back. Tony would be flying out to Monaco in… he checked the time on his phone, thirty minutes, and he didn't want to miss a second. Racing up to the door, he flung it open and tossed his backpack and shoes into the corner.

"Good afternoon, Sir," Jarvis greeted.

"Hi, Jay. Where's dad?"

"In the gym with Mister Hogan. They're waiting for Miss Potts and Miss Rushman to arrive."

"Thank you!" Kalen skipped in the direction of the gym.

Natalie Rushman was Tony's new assistant, officially starting today. She'd been hand-picked by Pepper and background checked by Happy before being suggested to Tony. After a one-on-one meeting, Tony decided she was an adequate replacement and, most importantly, trustworthy enough to know about Kalen, and had been hired on the spot. 

Kalen thought he'd be more nervous exposing his identity to someone new but was surprised to find himself excited instead. Sure, it was different from telling the entire world, but maybe he should have agreed to Monaco after all.

"Hey, kid," Happy called as Kalen entered the gym. He stood opposite Tony in the boxing ring, while he was distracted Tony elbowed him in the face. "What the hell was that?"

"Sorry, it's called mixed martial arts. It's been around for three weeks now."

"It's called dirty boxing," Happy retorted. "There's nothing new about it." 

Tony rolled his eyes and turned to Kalen. "How was school? Learn anything interesting?"

Kalen shook his head. "I already know everything we've learned in maths and science, and English is boring. All we do is write stories or read."

"English is important-"

"Yeah," Happy cut in, "One day you might need to do the simple task of reading some words in front of a large crowd. History isn’t in your favour."

"Yeah," Kalen grinned, "It would be embarrassing to mess that up."

Tony turned back to Happy. "You know what-"

"We're here!" Pepper called as she entered the room, followed by Natalie. "I promise this is the last time I'll ask you to sign over your company," Natalie took a folder that was tucked under her arm and flipped it open, offering the page for Pepper to sign.

"Rushman, front and centre," Tony called. "Come into the church. You too, Kay." Kalen ducked into the ring after Natalie. Tony took a long sip from his water bottle before continuing. "Kalen, this is Natalie. Natalie, meet Kalen."

"You can call me Kal." Kalen beamed.

"And you can call me Nat."

"Great," Tony clapped, "Now everyone's caught up. These two think they're funny, but instead, they earned themselves the privilege of giving you a boxing lesson." Tony ducked out of the ring and went to read over the paperwork with Pepper.

"Have you boxed before?" Happy asked.

"I have, yes."

"Where did you learn?" Kalen asked.

"I had lesson's when I was younger, not too different too from your age." Natalie glanced over her shoulder to check on Tony and Pepper.

"Rule number one," Happy said, "Never take your eye off the opponent." He went to punch Natalie, but she snapped around and caught his hand, using it to swing herself up and wrap her legs around his neck before pinning him to the floor.

"Woah!" Kalen breathed. "Are you okay Mister Happy?" Happy grunted an affirmative and pushed himself to his feet. Kalen spun to face Natalie, his eyes wide as he spoke. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Tony cut in, raising a finger, "If she does, you are not allowed to use that on Reece."

Kalen's shoulders slumped. "But that's why I want to learn."

"Exactly," Tony muttered. "I don't need a lawsuit from Hammer on my hands right now."

"Sir," Jarvis said, "Colonel Rhodes is here."

"Uncle Rhodey!" Kalen exclaimed, ducking out of the ring and scampering down to meet him. Rhodey had been busy, both with the army and trying to keep the government's hands off of the Iron Man suit, so he hadn't been around in over a month.

Happy left the ring, giving Natalie a wide birth, and joined Tony. "How come he gets 'uncle' when I'm still at 'Mister' I bet it'll even be 'Auntie Nat' soon," Happy grumbled, crossing his arms.

Tony turned to face him, his brow furrowed. "You don't know why he calls 'Mister Happy'?" Tony was genuinely shocked when Happy shook his head. He clapped him on the shoulder. "Don’t you remember when he was obsessed with the Mister Men growing up? No points for guessing his favourite."

Kalen returned, dragging a chuckling Rhodey behind him. "Uncle Rhodey have you met Nat? She's awesome!" 

Rhodey stepped forward and shook Natalie's hand as they exchanged greetings. Tony finished checking through the papers and signed, handing the folder back to Natalie. "You're the boss." He said to Pepper.

Pepper grinned, a gentle laugh escaping her mouth as it sunk in. "Wow..." 

Natalie glanced up at the clock over the boxing ring. "Mister Stark, we should leave soon. I'll load the bags into the car."

"I'll help." Happy added, following Natalie from the room. Kalen gave them both a cheery wave before turning and hugging Tony.

"You can come if you want," Tony said, ruffling Kalen's hair. "There's still time to pack a bag."

Kalen hesitated, for a moment considering the offer. Meeting Natalie hadn't been a problem. Then he remembered the panic attack he'd had at school and quickly shook his head.

"Alright," Tony kissed Kalen's forehead. "I'll see you later."

Kalen watched them leave, a wave of sadness washing over him. Rhodey saw it on his face and rested his hand on his shoulder. "They'll be back before you know it." He said, "Besides, with Pepper gone, we can have cheeseburgers for tea every day."

* * *

You could easily describe the Monaco trip in a single word, that word being  _ disaster _ . Not only had Tony made the crazy decision to drive the car himself, but an insane man had walked out on to the track and started assaulting the drivers with electric whips. Electric whips powered by an arc reactor, of all things. It quickly became clear he was searching for Tony, Kalen watched it back on the news in the morning. Thankfully, Happy and Pepper managed to get Tony the Mark V - which deployed like a dream thanks to their hours in the workshop - so he could take out the bad guy. 

Rhodey spent the morning juggling phone calls, profusely apologising to Kalen for not being able to help him get ready for school. Kalen secretly listened in to some of the calls, it sounded like Rhodey was arguing with a lot of people, the Iron Man suit was mentioned a lot.

Kalen drifted through school, barely paying attention as his mind replayed images of the crazy man attacking Tony. It burned into his brain the same the whips had burned tracks into the Mark V. Kalen felt his breathing speeding up and tried to push the pictures away and focus on the lesson. It wasn't working.

He shot to his feet, sending his chair toppling backwards with a thud that startled everyone in the room, before scrambling out. Jason ran after him, finding him crouched against the wall halfway down the corridor. Mr Harrel joined them a minute later, Kalen insisted he was fine and could return to class. Reluctantly, Mr Harrel agreed, though he kept an extra watchful eye on Kalen over the day.

When Kalen arrived home, Rhodey was still on the phone, though he slumped against the kitchen counter with his head hanging in his hands. He flashed Kalen a weak smile and nodded towards the workshop. Kalen headed down, finding Tony in the Hot Rod in almost pitch black with numerous holographic newspapers in front of him. Tony swiped them away when Kalen entered.

"Dad?" Kalen asked, taking a step closer.

"I'm sorry, Kay. I'm sorry for everything." Tony didn't move, his voice only a whisper. "There's so much I didn't tell you. So much mess to clear up. I should have been better and now it’s too-" He dropped his head into his hands.

Kalen jumped as the door opened behind him. Rhodey strode in rattling off a speech about the national guard wanting to take Tony's suits. "You gotta get up there and sort this mess. You said nobody would have this technology for twenty years, well guess what, somebody had it yesterday. It's not theoretical anymore." He stomped right up to Tony's side and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Are you listening to me?" 

Tony turned to face him. He looked awful: eye bags as if he hadn't slept in days, face was covered with sweat, and his eyes filled with a horrible mixture of emotions. Sadness, failure,  _ defeat. _ Kalen had to look away.

"Are you okay?" Rhodey asked, his gruff exterior melting away in an instant.

Tony grunted an affirmative, though it couldn't be more evident that he was lying. Seeing that, Tony clunkily moved to exit the car, opening the door and stepping down only to have his knees buckle under him. Rhodey was ready, already halfway around the car and running to catch Tony before he hit the floor.

"I just need to get to my desk," Tony gasped. Rhodey held him up under one arm and guided him to his desk chair, which all but Tony collapsed into.

A feeling of dread brewed in Kalen's stomach as he hurried to join them. Rhodey reached out for a cigar box, flipping open the lid to reveal six metal holders, four of which contained thin strips of metal.

"Palladium," Kalen whispered. "For the reactor?"

Tony held his reactor in his hand, the palladium core extended, and handed it to Rhodey. "Is it supposed to be smoking?" He asked.

"If you must know, it's neutron damage from the reactor wall."

Rhodey pulled out the core, it was burned and rusted. "You had this in your body?" Rhodey asked as he replaced the core with a new one. Tony didn't reply, turning away from them instead. "And how about your high-tech crossword puzzle?"

Kalen tiptoed to see what Rhodey meant, barely containing a gasp as he saw the red and black pattern snaking up the side of his neck. He bit his lip as things started to click into place.

"Road rash," Tony dismissed, taking the reactor from Rhodey with a muttered thank you and fitting it into place under his shirt, taking a long breath of air as the light flickered on. Kalen focused on that, on the glow he'd grown to love. The glow that meant Tony was alive.

He feared it meant something else, too.

Tony glanced over his shoulder, Rhodey and Kalen were staring at him. Rhodey out of worry, Kalen out of horror. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm looking at you," Rhodey ran his hand over his face. "You wanna do this whole lone gunslinger act, and it's unnecessary. You don't have to do this alone."

"I wish I could, I really do. But you've gotta trust me. Contrary to popular belief, I know exactly what I'm doing."

"You’re dying," Kalen said, it came out a little louder than he'd meant to. "The palladium is killing you. The reactor is killing you, and you're not doing anything about it!" Tears welled in his eyes. For the third time in just over a year, he was facing losing his father.

"Kay," Tony sighed. The word carried immeasurable amounts of emotion. "I've tried, Jarvis has  _ tried.  _ There isn't a replacement. There's  _ nothing. _ "

Kalen bit his lip as a sob threatened him, swallowing it down he spoke with a sticky voice, "So you're giving up?"

"I don't have a choice."

Kalen studied Tony's face, the creases that deepened, his clenched jaw, the thousand emotions that filled his eyes.  _ He really didn't have a choice.  _ "No..." Kalen wiped his eyes on the back of his hand. "How long?"

Tony closed his eyes. Kalen's voice was so quiet, so young, so  _ broken _ . "Don't-"

"Jarvis, how long."

Tony didn't protest to the AI answering. "Seventy-two hours."

"Sev-" Kalen choked. He tried to force back his tears, but they cascaded over his cheeks. He lunged forward, hating Tony for not fighting back, for just giving up. For leaving him.

Rhodey looped an arm around his waist and picked him up, carrying him from the room as Kalen attacked his shoulder and bawled. Tony kept his eyes shut, he couldn't face what he'd done to Kalen, but what other choice was there. A tear slipped over his cheek.  _ If he made everyone hate him, they wouldn't care when he's gone. _

Kalen spent that night at Happy's, giving him time to cool off and process Tony's revelation. Through school, he planned what to say, how to apologise and strategise a plan of attack, only to find Happy waiting to pick him up. Informing him that Tony was holding a birthday party that, as Happy put it, wouldn't be appropriate for Kalen to attend. He understood well enough what that meant.

Happy's house wasn't far from the mansion, so close in fact that Kalen could almost swear he could hear the blaring music from the party. He lay in bed, trying to pick out the distant sound, wishing he could just talk to Tony. Horribly aware of the clock ticking away Tony's life.

A sharp knock at the door drew Kalen from his sleep. Squinting against the just risen sun, Kalen rolled out of bed and peeked out of the window which overlooked the front door. Grinning, he sprinted downstairs and ducked past Happy, flinging open the door.

Tony stood on the doorstep, wearing dark tinted sunglasses and the Mark IV suit. He slid the glasses down his nose just enough to peer over the top at Kalen. "Hey."

"Hey," Kalen smiled, quickly glancing up and down the street in case anyone was watching. There was nobody in sight, not even peeking from behind their curtains, it was ridiculously early on a Saturday morning, after all. "What's going on? Why is the suit scratched up?"

"I had a small disagreement with Rhodey, he took the Mark II."

"He took it?"

"Yeah, that's what I said. I'm gonna level with you, I'm incredibly hungover, I want to apologise, I want to spend some time with my son. And I want doughnuts. So you coming, or what?"

"Doughnuts for breakfast? Yes!" Kalen took half a step out of the door, "Wait, I should get dressed first." He turned and ran back to the spare room.

"That'd be good," Tony muttered.

Before long, they sat inside the Randy's Doughnuts doughnut, sharing a dozen box of premium doughnuts and watching the sunrise over Los Angles. "I am sorry, Kay, that you found out like that. That I didn't tell you. I hoped I could find a replacement, but..."

"Maybe we can together." Kalen took another bite of his doughnut. Tony didn't have the heart to ruin his spirits by reminding him of the futility of the situation. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have been angry with you." It wasn't the extravagant apology he'd planned, but it felt more sincere.

"Sir," a voice called. One Tony rolled his eyes at as soon as he recognised it. "I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the doughnut."

Kalen looked from the small figure of Nick Fury to Tony, waiting for him to reply. "Dad... I think Director Fury wants to talk to you." He said eventually.

"I don't particularly want to talk to him. He's…” Tony waved a hand in the air, “loud."

"I don't think you have a choice."

"Yeah," Tony sighed, "I guess you're right, as usual." He handed the box of doughnuts to Kalen before holding him in one arm and flying to the ground, landing as carefully as he could to avoid aggravating his hangover. Setting Kalen down, he locked eyes with Fury before walking inside the shop.

Kalen slid into the booth next to Tony before he could protest. Fury joined opposite them, slouched back casually while Tony forward with his head in his hands.

"I already told you I don't wanna join your super-secret boyband," Tony muttered. Kalen looked at him in surprise, but Tony gave him a  _ please-not-now _ look.

"No, no." Fury chuckled, "See, I remember you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?"

"It's..." Tony trailed off with a sigh. "I'm sorry, I don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye? Honestly, I'm a little hungover. I'm not sure if you're real or I'm having..."

Fury leaned across the table, "I am very real. I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet." He examined the pattern creeping up Tony's neck. "That's not looking so good."

"I've been worse-" Tony cut off when Kalen elbowed him, staring towards the back door with his mouth hanging open. 

Natalie sauntered towards them, wearing a black suit fully equipped with a utility belt and thigh holster, SHIELD's geometric eagle logo on each shoulder. "I've secured the perimeter, but I don't think we should hold it much longer." She sat next to Fury.

"I want you to meet Agent Natasha Romanoff."

Tony massaged his forehead while Kalen's mouth moved wordlessly. Natasha took the opportunity to explain, "I'm a SHIELD shadow. Once we knew you were ill, I was tasked to you by Director Fury."

Fury didn't allow Tony to reply before speaking. "I see you've been busy, made Pepper CEO, gave away all your stuff. You let your friend fly away with your suit. Now, if I didn't know better-"

"You don't know better," Tony interrupted. "I didn't give it to him, he took it."

"He took it? You're Iron Man, and he just took it?" Fury was halfway to shouting. "Is that possible?"

"There are redundancies to stop people stealing them in the security database," Kalen answered, giving Tony another confused glance.

"Who's side are you on," Tony muttered, raised his head to look Fury in the eye. "Fine, what do you want from me?"

"What do we want from you? Uh-uh, what do you want from me? You have become a problem, a problem  _ I  _ have to deal with. Contrary to popular belief, you are not the centre of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with!" Fury clicked his fingers, "Hit him."

Natasha leant over the table at an alarming speed and pressed a metal syringe into Tony's neck. He flinched backwards with a shocked yell, "Ah! Oh god, are you going to steal my kidney and sell it?" Natasha turned his head to the side, and they watched the crisscross pattern on Tony's neck recede. "Could you not do anything awful for five seconds?" Tony moaned. "What did she just do to me?"

"What did we just do  _ for _ you," Fury corrected. "That's lithium dioxide. It's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"It's not a cure, just abates the symptoms," Natasha added. "Doesn't look like it's going to be an easy fix."

"Trust me, I know. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element." He dropped his voice to a whisper, "There's nothing."

"I'm here to tell you you haven't tried them all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Next chapter up Monday and it's a real doozy, I can't wait to share it with you guys!  
> Currently, I'm trying to think up a believable way to worm Kalen into The Winter Soldier just because I want to explore his relationship with Nat and Cap. Plus I think the whole defying the Government thing will be a nice set up for some future plans, and kick Tony into his most overprotective state, which we love to see.


	5. My Father Wasn't Around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for my attempt at science in this chapter, I watched two youtube videos and read a wikihow article... This is what I came up with  
> Buckle up, this one's a long ride

Kalen leaned over the balcony, watching gentle waves roll against the cliff far below and pretending that his home wasn’t a ruined shell of what it had been. Okay, maybe  _ ruined  _ was a little dramatic, but it certainly wasn’t very homely right now. 

Fury was lecturing Tony about the arc reactor. Apparently, Howard worked on it with ‘Monaco Guy’s’ dad, Anton Vanko, but had differing views on how it should be used and parted ways. On  _ nasty _ terms. Hence Vanko’s son’s vendetta. Howard had also left the reactor unfinished with the message that Tony was the only person who could finish it. Maybe ‘dramatic’ ran in the family.

Then, without explanation, Fury had some agents bring a box of Howard’s old SHIELD things, because oh yeah,  _ Howard was one of the founders of SHIELD. _ Then Coulson turned up, telling Tony he was under house arrest until he fixed his heart. And something about tasering him and watching Supernanny? Kalen had given up listening in by then.

All in all, it was just a  _ dramatic _ morning.

"No way..." Kalen gasped as he rooted through the box. "I've never seen these comics before. Grandpa Howard must have some of the rarest in existence."

Tony spoke from behind the original arc reactor blueprint, "I hate to point it out, but we have a task here. And a pretty pressing timeframe."

"Yeah, yeah of course." Kalen set the comics aside, careful not to crease any pages, and turned back to the box. "Do we have anything to play these old tapes?"

"There's a projector in my office upstairs. I'm not sure it still works, but it's worth a try." Tony stood, "I'll go get, keep looking through that box."

Kalen was already three pages deep in one of Howard's notebooks, lapping up every detail he could find about his grandad. Tony hated talking about his father, everything Kalen knew about him came from a mixture of Peggy and his comics. 

_ Peggy _ . He almost dropped the book as he connected the dots. She never mentioned that Howard founded SHIELD, in fact, she never talked about SHIELD once.  _ What if that was because she was an agent, too? _ Kalen made a mental note to ask her about that if he ever got to visit her in Washington.

Tony returned and started setting up the projector while Kalen continued flicking through the notebooks. One of which was filled with scrawled equations and overly detailed sketches of a cube before it came to an abrupt end, the rest of the book consisting only of empty pages.

“Jarvis, drop the lights for me,” Tony instructed as he finished with the projector.

"Do you think this cube is the same one from my comics?" Kalen asked, showing Tony one of the drawings. "I always thought they made that bit up, it didn't seem very realistic."

"Captain America doesn't seem very realistic, but he definitely was." Tony clicked a film reel into place and turned on the projector, taking the notebook to examine himself.

"Captain America was created by science and maths, the cube was like... space magic," Kalen said, vaguely gesturing upwards and causing Tony to chuckle. "It feels like something is missing from these books, like he just stopped halfway through. Are there any more?"

Tony checked through the box, coming up with nothing. "Let me look through, see what I make of it."

Kalen turned his attention to the projector, watching what appeared to be a blooper reel of Howard filming the original welcome video for the Stark Expo. He'd started sitting on his desk before walking to a model of the expo as he delivered his speech. Kalen allowed himself to imagine what it would have been like if his grandparents were still alive. If they hadn’t died in that car crash he’d seen countless picture of before he was born.

"Tony!" Howard's raised voice pulled Kalen from his daydream and back to the screen. A young Tony, probably around eight years old, clutched a building from the model to his chest. "Tony, what are you doing back there? Put that back where you got it from." Young-Tony set the building back down and ran off-camera.

"I remember that day," Present-Day-Tony said. "He'd been filming pretty much all day, I went to the park with Jarvis. Human Jarvis, that is." He waved the notebook in the air, "I see what you mean. My dad may have been awful, but he wasn’t a quitter. There's something we're missing. Maybe I'll ask Coulson if-"

"Tony." Both heads snapped to the screen, something about Howard's tone stopped them in their tracks. He was looking directly into the camera as if he could see through it, could see them sitting in the workshop surrounded by his papers. "You're too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you." 

Tony leaned forward in his chair, Kalen's attention fully rapt on the scene unfolding before him. Howard gestured to the expo model. "I built this for you. And someday you'll realise it means a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future." The video changed from Howard, briefly flashing a model arc reactor before zooming in on the globe centrepiece of the expo. 

"I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation, is you." Just as quickly as it started, the film stopped. The projector clicked as it spun through empty film reels.

Tony stared at the blank screen for a long moment. Eventually, he spoke, "I think I left something in my office." He sprung to his feet, already halfway out of the workshop by the time Kalen could speak.

"You mean Pepper's office?" Tony didn't reply, too caught up in whatever it was to have heard him speak. "How are you going to get past the agents?"

It turns out getting past the agents was easy as Tony didn't return for almost an hour, Kalen spent the time reading Howard's comics not wanting to miss the chance if SHIELD took them back. When Tony did return, he brought with him the Stark Expo model  from the video. Kalen cleared a worktop of junk to give them space to assemble the pieces, not that it was difficult; it was only broken into three parts. "Why did you bring this?" He asked.

"Just an idea, probably won't pan out. Jarvis, can you kindly Vac-U-Form a digital wireframe? I need a manipulatable projection." Tony stepped back as Jarvis scanned the model, forming thin, blue wires over the top.

"1974 Stark Expo model scan complete, sir."

Tony lifted the frame, turning around and flipping it vertically. "How many buildings are there?" 

"Am I to include the Belgian waffle stands?"

"That was rhetorical. Just show me." Tony pulled over a chair and guided Kalen to sit in it, standing behind him. "What does that look like to you?"

"It looks like the expo. But blue." 

"Look past that, bigger picture."

Kalen shuffled his chair backwards, taking in the full projection. In the centre, a globe-shaped water feature with paths leading outwards. Each one flanked by pavilions or greenspace. He squinted, ignoring the details to look at the bigger picture, and coming up with nothing. Until...

"An atom." It was a simple statement but filled with untapped potential. He pointed to the globe, "That would be the nucleus."

Tony enlarged the globe. "Lose the footpaths. And the landscaping, shrubbery, all of it. Parking lots, exits... Structure the protons and neutrons using the pavilions as a framework."

They watched as Jarvis constructed the arrangement, moving the pavilions inwards to the globe and repeating the pattern throughout the sphere. When he was done, Tony clapped his hands together and expanded the construction around them, casting a gentle blue light across the workshop.

Kalen's mouth fell open as he watched the small spheres representing protons and neutrons circle around him. "You just... discovered a new element." He breathed.

"We did. You were right about the notebooks, something was missing. This." He stretched his arms wide, chuckling. "Dead for almost twenty years, still taking me to school."

"The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium," Jarvis informed them. "Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesise."

"Uh-huh. Only one way to get around that. Get ready for a major remodel fellas! We're back in hardware mode."

Kalen jumped up from the chair, "We're building a particle accelerator?"

"We’re gonna try.”

Kalen grinned, “I’ll grab my book on Doctor Banner, it has his work on anti-electron collisions and how they affect particle reactor theory.”

A lot of property damage, rewiring, and heavy lifting later, the pair were halfway to completing a loop of metal tubing for the accelerator. They’d worked straight through lunch without even realising their hunger. Only pausing when Coulson entered the workshop. “I heard you broke the perimeter,”

Tony balanced a spirit level on the tubing. “Uh, yeah. That was like three years ago. Where have you been?”

“I was doing some stuff.”

“Yeah, well, us too. And it worked.” He sighed as the spirit level still showed the tube at an angle. “Captain, you find anything to level this out?”

“Uh…” Kalen turned to the last box of supplies and rummaged through, throwing out useless scraps while looking for something the perfect shape. Pushing aside some cloth, Kalen's eyes fell on a circular piece of metal “Woah…” he gasped as he pulled it out. 

Coulson glanced over, double-taking as he saw what Kalen was holding. Only half the star remained, and several of the red, white, and blue panels had been lost, but it was unmistakably Captain America’s shield. “What’s that doing here?”

Kalen slipped his arm into the leather straps and held the shield across his body, turning to face Tony. “Do I look like Captain America?”

“I guess I can really call you 'Captain' now,” Tony chuckled. “Bring it over here, it’s perfect.” 

Kalen skipped over, “It’s so light!” He remarked, tossing the shield from hand to hand with ease. Tony lifted up the coil, Kalen was about to slide the shield underneath when Coulson cut in, sounding worried.

“Won’t that damage it?”

“It’s made of vibranium, there’s nothing stronger.” Kalen slid the shield into place. Tony grabbed his spirit level and rested it on top. “Perfectly level.”

“You here to break my balls for leaving, Coulson? Were busy, what do you want?”

“Two things,” Coulson said, refocusing on the task at hand. “Pepper’s upstairs, waiting for Kalen, and I’ve been reassigned. Director Fury wants me in New Mexico.”

“What’s going on in New Mexico?” Kalen asked.

“That’s classified.”

“Even for us?” Kalen pressed. Coulson just nodded. Kalen turned back to Tony. “I should tell Auntie Pepper to go without me.” With everything going on, Kalen had forgotten that he was supposed to be going back to the Stark Expo with Pepper, Jason, and his family. This time they planned to actually get to see the exhibits, and maybe catch a presentation or two.

“No, you go. I’ve got this under control.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you were kind of… dying this morning.”

“Thanks for the reminder, Kay. Seriously, go, have fun. I’ll be here when you get back.”

Kalen ducked under the coil and wrapped Tony in a hug. “Don’t die while I’m away.”

“I won’t, promise. See you later.” Tony nodded to Coulson as Kalen pulled away, “Have a good time in New Mexico.”

Kalen ran upstairs, Pepper stood in what used to be the sitting room. “Kalen!” She exclaimed, “What’s going on here? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Kalen waved vaguely at the house. “Dad’s just got some stuff going on… some SHIELD stuff. I’m sure he’ll tell you about it when we get back.”

Pepper looked sceptical but led Kalen to the waiting car, Happy and Natasha already inside. “Well, Happy brought your bag from his house, and Jason’s going to meet us at the airport.”

The lights dimmed, and the crowd burst into applause as music played over the speakers. Kalen was sandwiched between Jason and Pepper in the audience at the main stage, watching as Justin Hammer danced his way towards the podium. As much as he hated both Justin and Reece, Kalen had to admit that Hammer Industries usually produced some good tech - and no doubt Justin would take full credit.

“That’s what I’m talking about! Thanks for coming.” Justin addressed the crowd as he finally made it to the stand. “Ladies and gentlemen, for far too long this country has had to place its brave men and women in harm’s way, but then the Iron Man arrived, and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly that technology was kept out of reach.”

Kalen rolled his eyes as Justin talked, muttering to Jason “Yeah, 'cause it’s dangerous in the wrong hands. Like Justin’s, for one.” A glimpse as Pepper was all he needed to know she wasn’t impressed with Justin’s speech either.

“Well, today my friends, the press is faced with quite a different problem. They are about to run out of ink.”

There was a smattering of hesitant applause. Jason leaned closer to Kalen, “Are all his presentations like this?”

“Pretty much. He usually shows something good, though.”

Justin cleared his throat, “Ladies and gentlemen, today I present to you the new face of the United State Military. The Hammer Drone!” The music picked up as the back of the stage opened and platforms raised up to reveal eight metal suits, resembling Iron Man but more heavily armoured. Three more platforms rose in turn, each displaying specialised armours for the Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

The crowd erupted into genuine cheers. Kalen leaned forward, sharing a half confused, half worried look with Pepper. Back on stage, Justin returned to his speech. “As revolutionary as this technology is, there will always be a need for man to be present in the theatre of war. Ladies and gentlemen, I am very proud to present to you the first prototype in the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit, and it’s pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes.” Justin stepped back from the centre stage as yet another platform rose, this one containing a souped-up version of the Mark II.

“Did you know about this?” Kalen asked Pepper. She shook her head, her face falling as a familiar rumbling sounded from a distance, getting closer by the second. Everyone in the crowd turned in their seats to watch Iron Man fly in, landing on the stage in front of Rhodey. The audience jumped to their feet, cheering as Tony straightened up and spoke to Rhodey.

Justin tried to get his presentation back on track, but Iron Man drew everyone’s attention away. Kalen watched the stage, it was impossible to read Tony’s expression or body language through the suit, but he had a bad feeling brewing in his stomach.

The minigun mounted on Rhodey’s shoulder clicked into action, locking onto Tony’s chest. Kalen sprung into action, jumping to his feet and yelling, “Get outta here!” The rest of the drones armed their weapons, each one aimed at Tony. 

Rhodey’s voice sounded across the pavilion, metallic through the suit’s filter. “This whole system’s been compromised. Go! Go!” His warning proved much more successful than Kalen’s. Screams filled the hall as people fled, sprinting through the aisles and clambering over their seats to escape. 

Tony took to the air, every weapon following him and beginning to fire. Shattering the glass roof and sending shards falling on the crowd below. Rhodey, and half the drones, took off after him.

Pepper squeezed Kalen’s shoulder, talking fast. “Go with Jason’s parents. We’re going to find Hammer. Get away, get safe!” Kalen nodded, turning to follow Jason as they ran into the aisle and out into the cold night air.

“Is Pepper safe going after Hammer?” Jason asked as they ran.

Kalen thought back to how Natasha flipped Happy with practised ease. “Yeah, she’ll be fine.”

As they ran, the fleeing crowd only got bigger, people jostling and shoving to escape from the drones that had remained grounded and were now firing missiles towards them. Explosions rattled through the air as Iron Man, followed by Rhodey and a dozen drones, flew overhead. Kalen watched them go, when he looked back, Jason had gone.

“Jason!” He yelled frantically, but his voice was inaudible over the horror around him. He turned back, spotting Jason knocked to the floor, and pushed his way to his side. “Come on, let’s go.” He shouted, pulling Jason to his feet.

Jason winced as he put weight on his ankle. “I don’t think I can run,” he groaned through gritted teeth. Another explosion, close enough to shake the ground they were standing on. 

Kalen cast around wildly. “In here!” He pointed towards the closest door, the bioengineering pavilion, and looped an arm around Jason’s waist, helping him limp towards the staff entrance. Technically, the building was shut at this time, but Kalen’s staff pass allowed him full access. Fumbling his badge from his pocket, Kalen pressed it against the scanner, willing the check light to turn green quicker than the system would allow.

_ Yes! _ He flung the door open and pulled Jason inside, locking the door shut behind them. They found themselves in a long corridor, the only light coming from an occasional dim emergency light in the ceiling. 

“Let’s get away from the door,” Kalen muttered, slipping his arm around Jason again and starting down the corridor. “There’s a staff room just round this corner.”

A deafening thud echoed from behind. Looking over his shoulder, Kalen made out a fist-sized dent in the door, which rattled as another bang sounded. “It’s the drones,” Jason said, “One of them must have seen us.”

“Quickly!” Kalen picked up the pace, rounding the corner and shoving open the door to the staff room. He sat Jason on the nearest sofa, not daring to turn on the lights, and started scavenging through cupboards. 

“What are you looking for?” Jason panted, the effort of running to the staff room had left him sweaty and his face contorted in pain.

“Anything. A torch, some sort of weapon, something to jam the door… You can’t outrun the drone, and that door won’t hold forever.” He found nothing of use. The drones attack still audible from this distance. 

“Try in there,” Jason nodded towards a side room, a kitchen as it turned out. “I’m okay here.” 

It was clear Jason was not okay, but Kalen didn’t see much choice. He ran across the room, darting into the kitchen and delving into the cupboards. Hearing someone shuffling behind the counter, Kalen spun around, scanning for its source. A figure jumped up, Kalen held back a yelp. 

“Conway?” The figure said, dropping a butter knife, which Kalen hadn’t clocked, on the counter. 

“Reece? What are you doing here? Is that a knife?” The questions fell from Kalen’s mouth. 

“I thought I needed to defend myself.” Reece hissed. One of the drone missiles must have struck the building because the walls shook and the sound thundered in their ears. “What’s going on out there? It sounds awful.”

“Uh,” Kalen thought for a moment, deciding against telling Reece his dad was, at least in part, responsible, he needed him as calm as possible. “I’ll explain later, but my dad is out there in the suit. He’ll take care of it.” It was a reassurance to himself as much as Reece. “We need to find a weapon, better than that knife, and somewhere to hide. Cupboards, look for something heavy and durable.”

After a thorough search revealed nothing sturdy enough to so much as hinder a drone, Kalen dropped to the floor, his head in his hands. “It’s no use,”

“Hey. This place is full of tech, and you’re you. Go make something.”

Kalen nodded, his mind racing through all the exhibits in the pavilion. “Okay... Okay, I have a plan. I need you to help Jason.”

“He’s here too?”

Before Kalen could reply, an almighty crash sounded, followed by heavy footsteps. The drone must have broken down the door. “No more questions, we need to go. Now!” He ran back to Jason, Reece hot on his heels. “Follow the signs to the research lab, I’ll meet you there.”

Reece helped Jason to his feet. Kalen stopped them in the doorway, insisting on going first to draw the drone after him. He, at least, could outrun it. Jason and Reece didn’t stand much of a chance. He waited in the corridor as the drone rounded the corner before taking off in the opposite direction, pausing to make sure the drone was following.

He lost the drone quickly as he charged through the pavilion, dashing from exhibit to exhibit collecting supplies, including a trip to the gift shop to source as many disposable cameras as he could carry. The bioengineering pavilion was probably the least equipped for his plan, mechanical engineering would have been way better, but he’d have to make do with DIY tools. 

The problem with the lab was the huge, glass window that allowed guests to watch the scientists at work. It also meant that the drone would only have to enter the main hall, and they’d be toast. Kalen burst through the door, scaring Reece and Jason out of their skin and rushed an apology as he dumped his supplies on a workbench. Jason sat on the floor by Kalen’s feet while Reece looked dubiously at the pile of cameras.

Kalen didn’t waste a second. He showed Reece how to extract the capacitors from the cameras, and dropped a mess of tangled copper wire for Jason to unravel. Kalen set about prying open a small plastic box found from the Artificial Joints Exhibit, there hadn’t been time to stop and wonder what it did, it just had an on-off button. And that was all he needed. After ripping the mechanism from the box, Kalen started wiring the switch to Reece’s capacitors, adding each one in a parallel circuit, then started coiling the remaining copper wire. 

The familiar sound of the drones footsteps reached their ears, all three looked up to see the drone entering the opposite end of the main hall. It scanned the room, settling on the lab and slowly marched towards them. 

“How long until it gets here?” Jason asked, his voice tight. 

“Uh, I’d say a minute,” Kalen replied, still coiling the wire. 

Jason nodded to his work, “And how long will that take?” Kalen didn’t reply. “Kal?”

“I have to do it right, no gaps, no crossing.” He sighed, “maybe a minute.”

“That’s cutting it close, Conway.”

Kalen bit back a reply, he could already feel the pressure making his hands shake, arguing with Reece would do nothing to help that. He tried to tune out the thought of the ever-approaching drone, how each footstep ran shivers down his spine, counting down to their eventual demise.  _ Just focus, finish the coil _ , he repeated over and over in his mind. 

The footsteps stopped. Replaced by a low whir.

“Done!” Kalen yelled. Looking up, he saw the drone standing inches from the glass, its minigun raised and ready to fire.

Reece barreled into Kalen, knocking him to the ground as a storm of bullets sailed through the glass and embedded themselves in the opposite wall. The three boys lay behind the worktop, Jason had his hands pressed over his ears while Kalen fought to catch his breath, temporarily winded from hitting the floor. Reece looked just as shocked at his actions as Kalen felt.

After the hail of bullets stopped, silence. The drone didn’t move. The boys didn’t move. All waited for the other to make the first move.

Jason inched closer to Kalen, speaking in a barely audible voice, “What do we do?”

Kalen stared at the device in his hand. “EMP, I need to get closer for it to be effective.”

Reece picked up the shell of a camera that had been knocked to the floor and threw it directly upwards. The drone shot it to pieces within a second. “That’s not going to happen.”

“I have to try.” Kalen closed his eyes and took a long breath. He hated goodbyes, but at that moment wished he could see Tony again and apologise for what he was about to do, tell him he loved him one last time. Jason squeezed his shoulder, holding him steady. Kalen knew then that he was doing the right thing, anything to save Jason.

He crawled to the end of the workbench, sealed his nerve, and burst into action. Charging towards the drone as it turned the barrel of its gun…

To the other end of the counter? Spraying bullets as it swung around. Jason screamed. So did Reece. Kalen wasn’t sure if he was too, his brain focused on one task only. Only when he was within reach of the drone did he squeeze the button.

The gunfire stopped, Kalen had seconds to act before the drone would start up again. He reached for its unprotected arc reactor, ripping from the casing with enough force to tug out the electromagnet at the other end. Permanently disabling the drone and breathing a sigh of relief.

Then he remembered the screams.

Spinning around, he saw Reece pressed flat against the side wall, he’d run at the same time as Kalen to draw fire. A twinge of regret, maybe Reece wasn’t as bad after all. Jason pulled himself up, leaning on the work surface as tears laced his eyes, turning to tears of joy when he saw Kalen unharmed.

“Uh…” Reece breathed, drawing both their attention. “My arm…” A patch of red grew steadily, Kalen rushed over, carefully rolling up his sleeve to assess the wound. By some miracle, it was hardly more than a scratch, sure a scratch from a bullet was never good. But it could have been infinitely worse.

“Here.” Jason threw over a roll of bandages from one of the drawers. Kalen sat Reece down and wrapped his arm. “That’s the best I can do.”

Reece smiled, actually  _ smiled  _ “Thanks. Really, Kalen, I mean it.”

Jason limped his way to a desk chair and scooted himself over to the drone. It clattered to the ground with a gentle push, the sound echoing around the hall. “Is it over?”

“In here it is, so long as no more come in. But dad, Uncle Rhodey… I have no idea.”

Reece walked over to the fallen drone, examining it closely. Jason pulled Kalen away from him, whispering, “I can’t believe he did that.”

“Me either.”

“...I thought you were dead when it fired.”

“Me too.” Kalen tried to smile, he wasn’t sure it worked. “But I’d never leave yo-” A loud, repetitive beep punctuated the air. “What’s that?”

The  _ drone _ . All this effort to disable it, now this was happening. And in every movie Kalen had seen, beeping meant one thing, and one thing only. It was decidedly  _ not good _ . Reece didn’t seem to share the concern.

Kalen flew across the lab, closing the distance in seconds, to repay the favour. Shoving the older boy with all his might, knocking him far from the drone as it ripped apart in a fiery explosion. 

The last thing Kalen saw was Jason’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Evil laugh*


	6. Hold Your Child as Tight as You Can

The beams from Tony and Rhodey's repulsors collided together with a blinding burst of energy that sending all three armoured men sprawling backwards.

Tony panted, trying to catch his breath as he pushed himself up. Jarvis ran a scan of the suit, highlighting the right arm and opposite leg as areas that had received substantial damage. The blast left the surrounding trees scorched or burning. He walked over to Rhodey, helping him to his feet before they turned to Vanko.

He lay against a rock, unable to move in the wreckage of his suit. Sparks flickered from inside the half-melted metal plating yet his arc reactor still held a faint, wavering glow. Vanko opened his eyes, an ugly grin crossing his mouth. "You lose," he choked weakly as his arc reactor began beeping and flashing red.

The sound intensified, coming from every Hammerdrone they had taken down as eerie red lights flashed all around them. "All these drones are rigged to blow. We gotta get out of here, man!" Rhodey shouted.

"Pepper?" Tony called, fear building in his stomach. Last he'd heard, she was waiting to leave until the park was clear. 

Tony and Rhodey shot into the air. Tony turned off and raced back to the main stage. Silently, he thanked her for making sure Kalen got out with Jason's parents, he didn't know what he'd do if Kalen had been caught up in this.

"Sir, Mrs Potts is in dangerous proximity to a Hammerdrone," Jarvis informed, a hint of fear creeping into the AI's tone.

Tony pushed the suit harder, he was only seconds out. But so were the drones. His feet barely grazed the ground as he wrapped his arms around Pepper's waist and lifted her into the air, the drone exploding milliseconds later. Pepper screamed as explosions arose all around them, one rattled the inside of the bioengineering pavilion as they flew overhead.

Tony took them to the rooftop of an apartment block, carefully setting Pepper down as his own suit sparked. He ripped off the helmet and threw it to the ground.

"Oh my god, I can't take this anymore!" Pepper held her head in her hands.

"You can't? Look at me! I can't take this!"

"I never know if you're going to kill yourself, or wreck the whole company, or-"

"I think I did okay!" A small explosion sounded from the expo. "Hey, Pep, take a breath. Calm down, we're safe." He stepped closer to Pepper, "You deserve better, you and Kay. You've taken such good care of me and I… well, I do that." He gestured over his shoulder. "Thank you for getting him out of there quickly. God with what happened in LA I don't think I could go through that again."

"We should go and check they're all okay."

"Yeah, yeah. Just one thing to say first." He stepped closer to Pepper again, so close they were practically touching.

"Yeah?" Pepper whispered. "Me too." She leaned forward, tiptoeing to press a kiss against his lips. Tony rested a hand on her waist as she weaved her own in his hair, pulling him closer. They pulled away, locked onto each other's eyes in an attempt to say all the words they should have said years ago.

Tony spoke first. "Weird?"

"No, no it's not weird."

"I think it was weird." They both turned to see Rhodey sitting on an air conditioning unit. "You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape."

"You should get lost,"

"I was here first, get a roof."

Tony chuckled, "I thought you were out of one-liners."

"That's the last one. Just you wait until I tell Kal about this, who by the way, is probably worried out of his mind right now."

"You're right, let's go." Tony picked up his helmet and gave Pepper a questioning look, she nodded and Tony wrapped his arms around her waist again, ready to fly down. "You kicked ass back there, by the way, Rhodey."

"Thank you, you too." They took off, angled towards the main gate into the expo. "Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion, so I'll have to hang on to the suit for a while."

"Uh, no. I'm not okay with that."

"It wasn't a question- Shit, Tony…"

"What? What is it?" Pepper asked. She could hear their voices but lacked a helmet to see what they were talking about.

Jarvis zoomed in on the crowd gathered outside the expo entrance, allowing Tony to see what Rhodey had. Jason's parents stood to the side, apart from the rest. Camila sobbed into Miguel's shoulder as he held their youngest son close. Jason wasn't there, neither was Kalen.

"Can someone tell me?" Pepper pleaded.

"Kay, he's… He's not with them." Tony landed in front of Jason's parents, startling them. Rhodey held back the rush of people wanting to talk to Iron Man, allowing Tony to set Pepper down again and talk in peace. "Where are they?" He wanted to scream and shout at them for losing his son, but they'd lost theirs too. They were going through the same fear.

"They were right behind us one second and gone the next. It happened so fast, I lost sight of them both and-" Camila mourned as tears fell down her cheeks.

Miguel stepped up when his wife's voice failed. "I told Camila to take Andy and went back to look, but-"

"Where did you last see them?" Tony forced his voice to remain calm, not to let on how scared he felt as it would do nothing to help the terrified parents.

"Somewhere the bioengineering pavilion, where exactly I don't know," Miguel answered, squeezing Andy's shoulder.

"We'll find them. Rhodey, let's go." It was as much a reassurance to them as to himself. He waited until they were out of earshot before continuing, not caring how his voice shook. "There was a drone in there, I saw the explosion."

"Breathe, Tony. We don't know anything yet, let's not panic until we do."

Tony knew he was right, but that did nothing to stop the dreadful feeling in his stomach. They soared over the expo together, heading for the bio pavilion. "Jay, who is that?" Tony asked as a waving figure came into view, bouncing up and down to get their attention.

Jarvis picked out the figure and zoomed in.

"Is that Hammer's kid?" Rhodey asked.

The feeling in Tony's stomach doubled, "Yes."  _ If that kid has laid a hand on Kalen… _ For a moment, he considered ignoring Reece, but no kid should be that scared. And not even Justin deserved the painful fear Tony felt right now. "Get him out of here, I'll look around."

They landed, Rhodey striding up to Reece. "Let's go."

"No!" Reece's response stopped them both in their tracks. He panted, trying to catch his breath. That was when Tony noticed his sootied face and the stained red bandage around his arm, not to mention the tiny rips and burns that covered his clothes. 

"What happened?" Tony demanded.

"Kalen, he saved me, but he's hurt. You need to help us, now!" He turned and ran into the pavilion.

"Us? Is Jason with you?" Rhodey questioned as they ran after him. The pavilion was almost pitch black, thankfully the two arc reactors created enough light to see ahead.

"Yeah, he hurt his ankle and can't walk far," Reece yelled over his shoulder as they twisted through corridors, eventually emerging into the main hall.

Half of the roof had collapsed inwards from the explosion, crushing a handful of exhibits under at least a meter of rubble. It looked like any of them were lucky to be alive. The recognisable crackle of fire sounded from the other side of the debris, filling the air with a choking mixture of dust and smoke. Reece scrambled over the pile, slipping and grazing his hands in his haste. Tony and Rhodey flew over, greeted by a sickening sight.

A chard patch on the tile, covered in a thick layer of ash, was all that remained of the drone. Fires roared in the lab, dangerously close to two figures sprawled on the floor. The firelight just making it possible to pick out their features through the smoke.

Jason clumsily slumped over Kalen, pressing a wad of gauze over his stomach. His hands smeared with Kalen's blood. He looked up at Tony, eyes full of fear and desperately searching for any form of comfort. "I-I didn't know w-what to do. Help, p-please help him!" He barely managed to get the words out between coughs.

Tony's eyes finally fell on Kalen. He was unconscious, probably a blessing considering the burns that covered his arm and blood-soaked clothes. As he ran closer, the light from the arc reactors glinted off of something on Kalen's chest. Something  _ in  _ Kalen's chest. A metal shard from the drone, the word '-ammer Indus-' visible. Tony crouched beside his son, noticing the pool of blood surrounding him.

"We didn't know if we should move him, or if-"

"It's okay," Tony reassured.  _ It was not okay _ . "You did the right thing. Jarvis?" He brushed a curl from Kalen's face as he waited for Jarvis to complete the scan.

"He requires immediate medical attention," Jarvis replied, the fear in his voice increased tenfold.  _ Yeah, no shit,  _ Tony kept that thought to himself as Jarvis continued. "There's a SHIELD facility five minutes from your current location. I've set a flight plan."

"Rhodey, get Jason back to his parents and make sure he's checked over, Reece too. I've got Kay." Without waiting for a response, he scooped Kalen into his arms and flew out of the destroyed roof. "Jarvis, bring up that flight plan and get me comms with the facility.

There were a few moments of silence as Jarvis worked on the comms. Tony followed the flight plan, looking down at his son who hung limply in his arms. His face covered in lacerations and patchy with soot which only served to highlight how pale his skin looked. Sweat glistened on his forehead, and blood trickled up his neck from under his shirt. Even unconscious, his face seemed twisted in pain.

_ "How did you access this channel?"  _ Came an accusatory voice, laced with mistrust.

"It's Iron Man."

_ "Mr Stark? What-"  _ The lady stopped talking, only muffled voices could be heard in the background. Tony wanted to scream to get their attention until he heard a familiar voice.

_ "Stark, it's Fury. Talk to me, what's happening at the expo?" _

"I've already handled that." He didn't have time for stories right now. "It's Kay, he needs emergency medical right now. I'm on my way to you. ETA four minutes."

_ "What's wrong, I'll prep the med team." _

"He's got a giant fucking metal shard in his chest and some kind of deep cut in his abdomen. He's lost a lot of blood, Nick, I need your help. I can't lose-" Tony bit his lip as a sob tried to escape his throat.

_ "We've got him, Tony, okay? The team are trained for this." _

The medical team were waiting before Tony even landed. He lay Kalen on their stretcher and hurried alongside as they wheeled him inside, leaving his suit outside for Fury to take care of. Under the harsh lights of the medical wing, Kalen somehow looked even paler. Nurses packed his wounds with gauze as they moved, it instantly turned a sickening, deep red. 

They pulled to a stop in a trauma bay. The lead doctor, Tony hadn't caught her name, told him to wait outside. He only did so because he was too shocked to think for himself. He could still hear what they were saying inside and watched them work through a window.

_ "I need a portable chest X-ray. Let's get a trauma series and a blood gas."  _ A sharp beeping echoed through the room.  _ "Okay, his BP is bottoming out. Scratch the X-ray, there's not enough time. We don't know how deep this thing is, it could have penetrated his heart so prepare in case of a bypass. Get that stomach lac debrided-" _

"Tony."

He watched Fury walk towards him with wide eyes as unashamed tears fell. "Fury," he breathed, "Tell me he's going to be okay, please. Just make him okay."

"That medical team has saved countless lives, one of the best in SHIELD. Kalen's in good hands."

Tony's shoulders relaxed slightly, though his hands trembled and knees threatened to give way at any moment. He leaned against the wall for support.

"Look, this just so happens to be Coulson's base of operations, and he's in New Mexico. He won't mind if you wait in his office."

"No. I-I can't leave him. Not like this…" He turned back to the window, the lead doctor lowered a scalpel towards Kalen's chest.

Fury turned Tony to face him, "You don't want to see that."

Tony allowed Fury to take him to Coulson's office. The wait for news dragged out, seconds passing like minutes. Tony swapped between pacing, sitting with his head in his hands, and just staring at the door. 

Hours passed, and still, Tony heard nothing back. He'd run out of tears to cry yet dry sobs still wracked his body, his chest and throat ached from the continued effort. He sat at Coulson's desk, head resting in his hands on the table. Even the thought of losing Kalen terrified him. Never again seeing his big, brown eyes sparkle, or hearing his overexcited voice after completing a complicated equation, never watching how his goofy smile could light up any room.

If Kalen died, Tony would die with him. It was as simple as that.

The door clicked open, Tony's head flew up. His exhausted eyes met Fury's. "He's okay, you can go see him."

Tony swallowed yet another bout of sobs, his mouth opening and closing with wordless appreciation as relief washed over him. He fumbled to his feet, all of his efforts channelled into not running all the way to Kalen's bedside. He paused outside the door, the doctor was waiting for him. "Give it to me straight, doc." Tony tried to give off his usual aloof persona, but pure exhaustion meant he barely managed a whisper.

"The metal penetrated the anterior wall of his left ventricle, so we had to place him on a cardiopulmonary bypass to perform a repair. His stomach laceration wasn't deep enough to have caused internal damage and has been stitched up." The doctor spoke clinically, probably stemming from being a SHIELD doctor who didn't often have to deal with her patients' families,  _ because they didn't usually have families _ . Maybe there was a reason for that.

"However, he received some severe burns to his left arm which we've treated as best we can, though he'll need follow up care." It was a question disguised as a statement, subtly trying to figure out why Tony was so invested in this kid.

Tony wasn't in the mood for games. "Will he be okay? I mean, is he going to…?"

"Yes, Mr Stark. He'll likely be awake within a few minutes. You can go in and sit with him, a nurse will be along soon then we'll assess his recovery in the morning."

Tony mumbled a thank you and dashed inside. Kalen was hooked up to various monitors and an IV line snaked into the back of his hand, but he'd regained some colour. They'd even cleaned the soot and blood from his face. All in all, he looked peaceful, rather than like he had one foot in the grave. Tony sat next to his bed, smoothing out Kalen's blanket and mindless twirling his hair around his fingers while he waited.

Kalen's eyes fluttered open before squinting against the light. "Hey," Tony cooed, "I'm right here, buddy. I'm here." He slipped his hand into Kalen's, relishing the strength that he squeezed back with.

Kalen opened his eyes again, this time keeping them open and rolling his head so he could see Tony, a loose smile on his face. "Hey."

Tony couldn't help but laugh. Here was his son, having gone through god knows what at the expo, and he just says 'hey' as if seeing a friend in the street. Kalen's smile grew at Tony's loving laugh. He leaned forward, "How are you? Can I do anything?"

"I'm a little cold."

"That happens after general anaesthetic sometimes, should pass soon." As he spoke, Tony pulled Kalen's blanket higher and tucked him in. "Better?"

"Better," Kalen nodded. "Thanks."

"Do you remember what happened?" Part of Tony wished he'd say no, knowing that Kalen would carry these traumatic memories his whole life. Kalen nodded and explained the entire story to Tony, proudly recalling exactly how he'd created the EMP device to shut down the Hammerdrone.

"You got Reece out of the way? Reece, the kid who attacked you last year?" 

"Yeah, what was I supposed to do?"

_ Not have been in that situation in the first place _ . Tony wasn't sure whether to be proud of his son's courage or fearful at the habit that he seemed to be forming. This was the second time in less than a year that Kalen had run towards danger instead of away, and this time he hadn't got off so lightly. Tony realised he probably wasn't setting the best example. Maybe being Iron Man wasn't as good as he first thought.

The nurse knocked at the door, pulling Tony from his thoughts. He ran some tests, checked Kalen's vitals, and asked a long list of questions before concluding that he was doing great, all things considered, and closed the blinds on the way out.

After he'd left, Kalen looked at Tony again, this time noticing the dark circles under his eyes and lines of worry etched onto his face. Kalen knew it was his fault. That his actions had caused Tony to go through such pain and anguish, but when did doing the right thing become the wrong thing to do. How do you measure one person's hurt and suffering and compare that to the next? It was like the Riemann Hypothesis, another unsolved maths problem that quite possibly had no solution at all. But his brain was still fuzzy from the anaesthetic, he'd figure it out tomorrow.

Kalen was determined to save Tony from the mess he'd caused. He gave him a smile, "Dad, maybe you should sleep. You look tired."

Tony gasped, pretending to be insulted. "Some of us didn't get a power nap. Hey, you still cold?"

"Uh, I guess-"

"'Cause that bed looks awfully comfy."

Kalen grinned, carefully shuffling over so Tony had room to lie next to him, locking his arms around his son. Kalen rested his head back against Tony's chest, listening to the welcoming hum of the arc reactor and closing his eyes. 

Tony sighed, "I forgot normal people have to get up to turn out the lights."

Kalen laughed, forcing himself to stop at the pain it caused in his chest. "They're okay left on," he murmured, already half asleep. Admittedly, he wasn't quite ready to face the darkness from the bio pavilion again yet, he just wanted the familiar comfort of home. Then again, lying there wrapped in Tony's arms, that was more of a home then any house could be.

"Uh uh," Tony whispered, picking up on the tiredness in Kalen's voice. "No way are you getting to sleep before me."

"Race you."

"You're on."

* * *

Kalen recovered quickly, partly from his eagerness to get back home to his family. When that day came, he was greeted by Jason's family as well as Pepper, Happy and Rhodey. Jason ran forwards, slightly awkwardly as he manoeuvered with crutches, as soon as Kalen and Tony stepped in the door, wrapping Kalen in a warm hug.

"Hey!" Kalen giggled, "Not so tight, I've still got stitches."

"Sorry," Jason pulled back, still beaming at Kalen. He dropped his voice to a whisper, "What was the SHIELD facility like?"

"I had to stay in the room the entire time," he moaned, "But we did overhear them talking about Thor, like the god Thor. And the Hulk, whatever that is."

"Didn't you see the Hulk on the news?" Jason exclaimed. Kalen shook his head. "I have to show you!"

"You boys can sneak off later, but at least pretend to enjoy this mini party Happy put together." Tony winked at Kalen and whispered too, "And maybe don't talk about secret SHIELD stuff, especially when it's as unbelievable as Thor. Come on, no way that actually happened. It's probably some sort of test from Fury to see if we're trustworthy."

"He's real, you'll see."

"Who's real?" Happy asked as he walked over.

"No one," Kalen replied quickly, he heard Tony mutter something about being an awful secret keeper but chose to ignore him. "It's great to see you again, Mister Happy!" He beamed.

"You too, kid. How about we go and say hi to Rhodey and Pepper while your dad gets us some cake?"

"There's a cake?" Kalen asked, a little too excited. He had been on SHIELD hospital food, after all."

"It's not a party if there isn't a cake. C'mon." Happy led him over to Pepper and Rhodey, both of whom got their share of hugs before a crash came from the kitchen.

Pepper rolled her eyes, "I swear, your dad may be a genius, but he's helpless in the kitchen. I should check on him."

Kalen giggled, remembering the Great Garlic Fiasco of October. As soon as Pepper left, Rhodey crouched down next to him, a mischievous smile on his face. "That's an excuse, she just wants some alone time with your dad." He wiggled his eyebrows, only making Kalen laugh more.

"Yuck!"

"You wanna know what's really gross? They kissed, I saw them. With feelings and everything."

Kalen's face lit up with his trademark smile. "No way! Really?"

"Yup, it's about time, right?"

"Definitely. But it's still yucky." He watched Tony and Pepper laugh as they left the kitchen and wondered if his family, no matter how dysfunctional it may seem, might just come out on top.

He couldn't possibly know how much that was going to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Iron Man 2 is complete!! Thanks to everyone who stuck with me this far, it really means a lot, there are greater things to come!  
> And by greater things, I, of course, mean Avengers Assemble! First chapter up on Monday, had to make a few small adjustments to the film for the sake of dramatics. Let me just say I wasn't even prepared for what I wrote, it just kinda happened. Hopefully you'll love it!


End file.
